Be kind to the environment and your wallet by reducing waste this Christmas

At this festive time of year, it is easy to stockpile food only to end up with a fridge full of leftovers that end up getting thrown away.

It is also a time of year when there is often lots of extra packaging that goes into the waste disposal system.

With household waste costing councils in Hampshire around £100 million each year to deal with, Hampshire County Council is encouraging residents to do what they can do help minimise waste and increase recycling.

Councillor Rob Humby, Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council and Executive Member for Economy, Transport, and Environment, said: “Christmas can be a busy time, but we’re asking people to remember that extra items bought over the holiday period can also be recycled, such as large biscuit tins, and that any leftovers can be turned into some delicious new meals.
“With all the extra packaging at this time of year, remember that if your own recycling bin starts to overflow, you can take lots of items to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC). Please take empty bottles to your local bottle bank. All our HWRCs have bottle banks too.”

For 12 tips for Christmas food savings, visit Hampshire County Council’s Smart Living pages. These include:
– If you have a freezer, try to make room ahead of Christmas day so that you can store any leftovers for another day;
– Plan ahead so you only buy what you need or for the number of people you plan to feed;
– Remember you can make delicious meals from leftovers;
– If you are not going to use food you’ve bought, which is still in your fridge and within its ‘use by’ date – pass it on to neighbours, family or friends.

Items such as metal biscuit and sweet tins, cardboard delivery and toy boxes, cards and envelopes can all be recycled in your kerbside collection.

However, wrapping paper, which contains foil, and moulded plastic packaging, such as toy packaging, cannot be recycled. For more information on what can and can’t be recycled visit the County Councils’ waste and recycling web pages.

Your local Household Waste Recycling Centre is open seven days a week except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

‘Real’ trees are recyclable and will be composted if you take it to your local HWRC or can be shredded into chippings which are then used locally in parks or woodland areas. Local authorities often arrange drop-off points or special collections of ‘real’ trees in early January and advertise the dates this will take place with any other changes to collections over the Christmas period.

Please check with your local district, borough or city council to see if they will be collecting Christmas trees as part of their festive bin collections days. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/rubbish-collection-day

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